Dr Fauci urges WHO to commence 'next phase of investigation' into Coronavirus' origin

As questions rise over Coronavirus' (COVID-19) origin, US chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday, backed the 'next phase of investigation' by the World Health organisation (WHO) into the origins of the virus. Speaking to reporters, Dr. Fauci said that he was not '100% sure of the origin' and it was imperative to look and investigate. US has urged China & WHO for a transparent process stating that there was a need to 'get to bottom' of it.

Fauci: 'We should continue with investigation'

Recently, Dr Fauci refuted claims that the American institute (NIAID) headed by him funded labs in Wuhan to carry out research on Coronaviruses. In an interview with Politifact, Fauci called the claims by a US report alleging the USA's involvement in the funding of Wuhan labs as preposterous and stated that whatever the study said is not true. Recently,  Republican senator Rand Paul accused the NIH of funding Chinese research into how viruses move from animals to humans, alleging that the 'gain of function' research might have led to the creation of COVID-19.

"That's actually preposterous to bring something up that is not really helpful by saying that we funded research in China that could lead to dangerous research. So what he was saying is absolutely not true, it's very unfortunate that he brought that up. It does nothing but clouds the issue. So it was really unfortunate that he said that and it made no sense as it was not based on any fact at all," said Dr. Anthony Fauci.

US Report On NIH Funding PLA-linked Wuhan Lab

A report by the Republicans' House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 infection, was manufactured in a lab in China, against the claimed thesis of natural occurrence. The 21-page unclassified report accessed by Republic Media Network speaks in detail of alleged experiments being conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) since 2016, warnings of which had been relayed by the US envoys in China. The report also questions the role of an American institute (NIAID) headed by top medical expert Dr. Anthony Fauci which allegedly funded labs in Wuhan to carry out research on Coronaviruses.

The committee, which has been examining the growing threat to America posed by the CCP and the Chinese PLA, accuses the Chinese authorities of undermining the investigation into the origins of the COVID-19. Giving a brief timeline of the events, the Republican report has claimed that Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers had been conducting experiments since 2016 which involved RaTG13, the bat coronavirus identified by the WIV in January 2020 as the closest sample to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.